The Rabha are a Tibeto-Burman community to the Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal. They primarily inhabit the plains of Lower Assam and the Dooars, while some are found in the Garo Hills. Most of the Rabhas of Dooars refer to themselves as Rabha, but some of them often declare themselves as Kocha.
The Rabha community have a rich, multi-faceted and distinct culture of their own. The agricultural practices, food habit and belief systems of the Rabhas reflect a conglomeration of features from both the Aryan and Mongoloid culture. The Rabha society is matrilineal. The village economy is based on agriculture and both men and women work in the fields. The women love to wear colorful clothes that they weave themselves and they wear a lot of beads and silver ornaments. The Rabhas are non-vegetarians and rice is their staple food.
The traditional economy of the Rabhas in general, is based on agriculture, forest based activities and weaving. In the past, the Rabhas used to practice shifting cultivation. They continued to cultivate the land with Gogo or bill-hook. Later they took up the job of settled cultivation and started cultivation with plough. Besides cultivation, hunting was also an old practice of Rabha people. Weaving was a traditional occupation of the Rabha women.
The Rabhas are mostly found in Lower Assam on the south bank of the Brahmaputra, in the districts of Goalpara and Kamrup. Some are found in the north bank districts of Baksa, Udalguri and Kokrajhar. In Meghalaya, the Rabhas mainly live in West Garo Hills and East Garo Hills districts. In West Bengal, the Rabha inhabit the district of Alipurduar.
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